Confluence
by Ahamkara
Summary: Confuence: An act or process of merging. Many use it to refer to the Vex's mysterious Confluxes, but perhaps there is something...more. Accepting OCs!
1. Prologue: The Sound of Eternity

**Prologue: The Sound of Eternity**

 ** _From the journal of Melody Aurora, Timeweave Warlock—Memories_**

The first thing I remembered was not an image, or a word or phrase. It was a sound, a melody played on some unidentifiable instrument. I know now that, no matter what happens to me, I will never forget that sound. It was undeniable, eternal and immutable, a sound of perfection and eternity. Why was it the first thing I remembered? I do not know.

The second thing I remembered was a feeling—that of something pulling me together. It was if I was splintered, broken in some unexplainable way, a mind scattered across the endless nothingness of the void. Piece by piece I was brought together, fragments joining with fragments an untold number of times until the process was finished. To me, it felt like an eternity and an instant at once, but I know what this feeling was, and how long it lasted. It was the feeling of being reborn, of being pulled back from beyond death by a force greater than destruction. I am told it only took seven seconds to bring me back, despite the state they found me. Given my experiences with death, I'm inclined to believe this.

The third thing I remembered was a sun setting over an injured god. Yes, that is an appropriate term, one that many use nowadays even if they know otherwise. I spent a few years of my life studying the Traveler, as many Warlocks had, but I know now my focus should lie elsewhere, on those who would threaten us. That is why I was chosen to become a Guardian, an insurmountable protector of humanity.

The sunset was a thing of beauty. Every day I come outside to see it again, and I find myself thinking, how many have lost this simple thing in our effort to survive? Sometimes I think that is why I always watch the setting sun, to remind myself of what I am fighting for. Of course I know there is another reason, one more important to me, selfish as it may seem.

When the last light of the sun finally dies down, I always hear the sound of eternity.

* * *

 **AN:** Hello, everyone, Ahamkara here, and welcome to Confluence. This story will be updated whenever I have the time and inspiration to write a new chapter. I have more time than the Vex do, but inspiration's something that comes sporadically. This is my first serious attempt at fanfiction, and features characters who were created with input from some of my real-life friends. It may or may not follow the main storyline of Destiny, or it may simply be just another fireteam. I have yet to decide. With that said, not everyone's going to start on Earth in the Cosmodrome.

If anyone has OC's, feel free to post them and I may include them. Forgive me if I butcher their personalities upon their inclusion. If you've got custom abilities, don't forget to list them. If you want an OC that's not a Guardian (ex. a Fallen Captain, or a Cabal Centurion, or what not), feel free to post them too.

Constructive criticism accepted. Harsh criticism accepted. Openly flaming me is not.


	2. Chapter 1: The Last Light of Day

**Chapter One: The Last Light of Day**

 ** _Location: 2km from Last City, Old Russia, Earth  
Point of View: Melody Aurora_**

"Agh…wha…what's going on…" I said groggily, shaking slightly as I came to. "Where…where am I?" I immediately shielded my eyes from the sun—unfortunately I happened to have the misfortune to have been looking directly at it when I opened my eyes. While I waited for my eyes to adjust to the light, I took a brief moment to orient myself in the world, and piece by piece my mind 'woke up,' so to speak. One of the first clues was a voice I heard.

"Guardian? Can you hear me, Guardian?" It said—calm, masculine, but clearly synthesized. My mind had already been analyzing the situation even as I oriented myself, so I was able to pinpoint the source of the voice—a strange robot hovering just slightly to my left.

"Who…what are you?" I asked after a moment.

"Long story short? I'm your Ghost. I'll explain later, but for now, we need to move. This area isn't safe."

"Safe from what?"

"A species called the Fallen. It's a long story. We need to get out of here, and fast." I tried to recall anything I knew about the Fallen, whoever they were, and drew a massive blank. Deciding to put things aside, I opted to listen to this robot—sorry, Ghost, as it seemed to have an idea of what was going on. I also had a strange feeling, a gut instinct if you will, that I could trust him.

"…Alright, then. Lead the way." My voice seemed strange, speaking was almost difficult, as if it was the first time I had spoken. I automatically filed this fact under 'unimportant, inquire later' in my mind. Hoping that nothing too unusual or shocking was happening, I nodded to my Ghost as I spoke, and froze up in shock (in hindsight, I was asking for a surprise) when my Ghost simply vanished, dematerializing.

"Don't worry, I'm still with you. I managed to create some basic armor, no weapons unfortunately. Hopefully we can find one. Follow the icon on your HUD, it'll lead us to transportation. A ship, I hope." He hopes? Not a guarantee, then. Seems like this day is off to a _great_ start.

I started walking forward, noting how unfamiliar movement was, as if I had not moved a muscle in days, though I didn't feel stiff. The sunlight started dying down unexpectedly fast, and my eyes finally adjusted and saw why—off in the distance was something…difficult and yet simple to describe.

It was a sphere, that much was obvious, but the sheer size of it was shocking. It dominated the skyline, towering up far above the clouds. I could not see the bottom, for it was obscured by a large wall, but I could see what appeared to be damage to the sphere. It took me a few moments to realize I had stopped, gawking at the sheer _size_ of the thing.

"We can be in awe of the Traveler later. For now, we must get moving. There's likely dozens of Fallen patrols in the area. I'd recommend evasion." Glancing down, I noted my armor wasn't exactly the stealthiest material. "It'll be difficult in your armor, but stick to the shadows. The Fallen have excellent night vision, but the sun's glare should be enough to counter it." Should. I don't like that word.

This area was full of scattered trenches and debris—it looked like a warzone, and probably was one. Hearing _something_ overhead, some kind of rhythmic pulse in the air, I decided to get a move on, sprinting towards a broken-down building. Even if there wasn't a weapon in it, I could use it to hide. Skidding to a halt, I glanced outside to see what I had heard.

It was some kind of ship, floating in the air. It was made of some kind of red metal, and had a few circular openings in the base of it, as well as two turrets swiveling around. I figured this was a Fallen ship, and opted to arm myself, even if it was with a lead pipe. Better safe than sorry, after all. However, the only thing in the room was an old, half-rusted locker. Opening it, I pulled out a small, white dodecahedron. My Ghost spoke up.

"An engram. Not a particularly complex one, too. They store items in digital form, which can be accessed if you decode it. This will only take a second." My Ghost rematerialized, and I jumped back, startled, as a beam of blue light shot out from him and struck the engram. Before my eyes it shined brighter, before shifting its' form into a usable weapon: A revolver. An oversized one, at that. Is this thing .75 caliber!? "Mark 10 Duke. Six shots. It's fully loaded, but we don't have any more ammo. If you can find some, I can convert it over." Nodding absentmindedly, I noted how easy it was to handle the weapon—I briefly experimented with a few stances, and felt how easy it was to shift through them.

Now's not the time to focus on how things feel, however, as I needed to get to safety. "Where to, now?" I asked my Ghost. "Also…do you have a name?"

"We're heading to the Last City. There's an old tram leading directly to it, just inside the building on the other side of that patrol." Figures. "As for a name, I've simply gone by 'Ghost.'" Hm. I'll have to change that, if he's willing.

Looking over the expanse I had to cross, I came to the conclusion that crossing it was going to suck. The Fallen ship (I glanced towards my Ghost, and he called it a Fallen Skiff) was still overhead, and no doubt it was some kind of dropship. If I was detected by it, I was going to have a bad time. What kind of time was still up for debate—the turrets on the Skiff looked powerful from where I was, but it _was_ a dropship, judging by the holes on the bottom of it. I'd prefer if it deployed troops rather than shooting at me. I can at least fight them one at a time, unlike the ship. A thought occurred to me. "Ghost, what do the Fallen look like? Would it be possible to impersonate one?" I doubted it, especially because he said they were a _species_ rather than a group, but it was worth a shot.

"It'd be impossible. The Fallen have distinctive armor, as well as four eyes and four arms." Well, that makes that plan impossible. "I think I can see a path we could take, though. Plotting a route now." A marker appeared, and I examined the area—it was pretty much the only way I could pass, from what I could see, but it was extremely risky. Said path was a deep trench, an open path. Sure, I could use it to hide from the Skiff, but if it flew overhead I'd be seen for sure. Oh, well. What choice do I have? Even if I am detected, the trench will provide cover. No risk, no reward, right?

I bolted for the trench immediately, surprised at my own speed briefly before rolling to a stop (yes, rolling. It was intentional, I swear!). Holding still for a moment, I let out a sigh of relief when I couldn't hear the Skiff moving towards me. Time to advance down the trench. It was about fifty meters long or so, from my estimate, and I figured that the Skiff's pilot wouldn't hear me if I ran, so I began sprinting. Ten meters past the end of the trench was a door leading into a small complex of buildings (my Ghost indicated that the tram was at the other end, and even if it didn't work we could follow the line all the way to a City entrance). Said door was wide open, and there was no cover whatsoever to hide me from the Skiff.

"Odds of us being detected if I make a run for it?"

"One hundred percent." My Ghost replied.

"And if we stay here and wait for it to leave?"

"Still one hundred percent. It's coming closer, so it's only a matter of time before it spots you." Okay, time to move. I began sprinting once again, crossing the ten meters in the blink of an eye, when my ears were assaulted by a screeching sound—not so much a noise as a _disturbance_ assaulting my senses. The Fallen had detected me, and that was their alarm. Dear god, have they never heard of silent alarms? Apparently not, as I could visibly see the Skiff shoot towards the entrance I took. Not wanting to stick around to see what it did, I immediately backed away, darting into one of the many corridors of the complex.

"I'd find a generator if I were you. I can provide light, but that'd likely just make us an even larger target." Agreed.

"What about the vents? Can you get a scan?"

"One moment." My Ghost rematerialized, and I clutched the grip of my Duke Revolver as he finished his scan, a few waves of blue light passing off his body. "Seems like there's an underground ventilation system. It's large enough that you might be able to squeeze through. The Fallen would have trouble following you down there, and I've got a map we could follow now." Good, what's the catch? "There's a problem, however. The Fallen know what entrance we've taken, and those vents aren't entirely continuous, they're separated by building." Damn.

"So, in and out. Got it. Where's the nearest entrance?"

"Door on your left. It should slide open just fine. Make sure to replace the vent cover so they don't get any ideas."

"Agreed." I slid into the room and spotted the vent in question – a rather large metal grate blocking my way. "That's gonna be a pain to get through…" Oh, well, let's try anyway—did I seriously just pull the entire thing out of the ground? "Uh."

"Oh. Well…you tried hiding it. Do your best to put it back, I suppose." How could my Ghost act so nonchalant about this?! If they followed me into the vents, I'm dead. Sliding in (it was a tight fit, but I managed), I pulled the vent cover back in place behind me. Hopefully they won't get the idea that I'm down here.

My Ghost provided directions, and I found my exit—an open door. There was a problem, however—two Fallen were blocking my path. One of them seemed to have better armor, the other seemed to be missing two of their four arms. I raised an eyebrow as my HUD displayed a few indicators above them—the armored one was apparently called a Vandal, and the one missing arms was called a Dreg. Charming. I inched closer to the vent cover, hoping they wouldn't look down and see me as I grabbed onto the cover. A few seconds passed. I knew I had to get past them, but they weren't moving. Fortunately they were facing away from me, watching the door. Here goes nothing.

I pushed hard, kicking off the back of the vent and sending the cover flying towards them. They didn't have a chance to react as it slammed into the back of their legs and sent them sprawling on the floor. A resounding _crash_ echoed throughout the room as the cover smashed into the far wall, but I ignored it and instead moved as quickly as I could towards the two. The Vandal managed to raise his weapon and fire a shot at me (some kind of blue energy), but it went completely wide, slamming into the wall. I aimed my Duke Revolver at his head and pulled the trigger.

The ancient mechanism within the gun responded just as well today as it did the day it was made, the firing pin slamming into the primer with enough force to cause a spark, igniting an explosive charge propelling the .75 caliber bullet down the barrel at nearly four hundred meters per second, the immense recoil strangely being almost unnoticeable as I steadied my aim, the cylinder cycling in for another shot. Before I knew it, the bullet struck the Vandal's head and promptly bounced clean off its' helmet.

Damn. I pulled the trigger twice more, and the third bullet finally managed to pierce through, leaving a sickening crunch and squelch. I decided not to think about that and instead repeated the process on the Dreg – who fortunately for me did not wear a helmet. The first bullet killed him instantly. There was a strange flash of light, thankfully hiding the disgusting mess long enough for me to look elsewhere.

Immediately, I searched the bodies, as if on reflex, and picked up what seemed to be ammunition for their weapons. My Ghost materialized, and fired that blue beam of light, which caused the ammo to shift into what was obviously ammunition for my Duke Revolver. Grabbing it, I quickly ejected the spent casings and slotted in the new projectiles (thank god for speedloaders!), before double-checking to see if there was any angry Fallen outside. Thankfully there weren't.

"The tram's just in the next building," informed my Ghost, "But I'm picking up Fallen communications. They've got your position. We'd better hurry." Easier done than said, ironically enough—I had a clear shot at sprinting all the way across, and did so without incident. I was briefly curious as to why I wasn't exhausted, but I put that line of questioning for later. This room was rather large, probably some kind of loading dock or storage room, and on the other wall was a large garage-type door, likely leading to the tram.

"Can you get me through that door?" I asked my Ghost.

"Easily. Let me access that terminal." I walked over to the indicated terminal, and my Ghost materialized, using that fancy blue beam. I thought that was the end of all this, and I could finally get to this City.

Of course, the universe hates me, as five more Fallen just charged into the room—four Dregs and a new, more heavily-armored one holding a pair of swords. My HUD helpfully indicated that this was a Fallen Captain. I summarized the situation thusly.

"Oh. Shit."

I immediately dove for cover as bolts of blue and orange shot over my head—fortunately my Ghost was too low and too small a target to be hit. Pressing my back up against my cover (which happened to be, ironically enough, some kind of Fallen container), I listened to get the locations of my enemies.

 _There._ I rolled to the left, ending the roll perfectly on one knee, and fired off three shots. The first shot went wide, but the second struck one of the Dregs in the left shoulder, causing him to be knocked back slightly from the impact, spin around, and have his shot go completely wide. Conveniently and unexpectedly enough, the shot happened to have struck another one of the Dregs right in the arm, causing him to drop his weapon. I didn't focus on that, however, and instead aimed my third shot. My aim was true, and the bullet shot through the air and collided with his neck. The Dreg dropped like a rock. However, I still had the Captain to deal with, and the fourth Dreg was nowhere to be-

- _Agh!_ A storm of orange projectiles had just slammed into my side. Fortunately the impact was mostly absorbed by... _something_ (note to self: ask my Ghost), but it was still enough to knock me to the side in surprise. I managed to recover, quickly firing my remaining three shots at the fourth Dreg. Two of them hit him in the chest, the second one striking dead-center. He went down quickly after that. Now for the Captain.

Who was eight meters away and charging. And I need to reload. His blades were electrified, and I saw a faint, blue shimmer in the air around him. Not good. I managed to dive to the side just in time, both his swords would have slammed into my shoulders if I was a second too slow. I quickly recovered, getting up and sprinting as far away from the Captain as I could, fumbling with the Duke Revolver in an attempt to reload it.

 _Oh fu-_ I ended up tripping on a step, crashing face-first into the ground, the revolver sliding a good three meters away, alongside the ammo for it. Hearing a shout of triumph, I immediately rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the twin blades yet again. I opted to kick at the Captain's legs from my position, and quickly found out what that shimmer in the air was.

He had an energy shield of some kind. Perfect. Just perfect. It didn't even seem to faze him, either. On top of that, his swords had gone clean through the thick metal of the floor, sending a discharge of electricity into the surrounding area.

...Wait a minute, I have an idea. A stupid idea, but an idea nonetheless. Just gotta get the timing right. I ran back towards my Ghost while the Captain was pulling his swords out of the ground. I couldn't risk trying to reload my gun on the run yet, so this plan had better work. "Uh, might wanna hurry up..." I say, hearing the Captain right behind me.

I stopped in place, dropping to the ground. I was lucky enough that the Captain slashed horizontally—if it was vertically, I'd be dead right now. That said, his momentum was enough that it took him right over me— _Ow!_ —and caused him to trip and stumble. Gritting my teeth in pain (dear god he's heavier than he looks, and that's saying something), I quickly got to my feet and charged at him. He was facing the garage door, and I shouted "Any time, now!"

Perfect! The door slides open just as the Captain tries to brace against it, and he collapses to the floor. I take the opportunity to stomp on one of his arms, causing him to drop a sword, which I promptly pick up and try to stab down. He twists his body, kicking my legs out from under me and causing me to slam down onto the ground next to him. I noted an activation switch, or at least I hoped it was an activation switch, on the sword. I pressed it, turning the electrified blade off. Why would I do this? Simple, to let me grab onto the blade. Why would I do _that_?

The Captain had just slashed down at me with his free hand, and I had to use both hands to block it. Even in such an awkward position he had incredible strength. Note to self, don't underestimate the Fallen. With a grunt I managed to lift the blade up enough to roll out from under it, and I got to my feet at the same time as the Captain. Panting, I took a few steps back, as did he.

Neither of us moved at first. I noticed he seemed to be better off in terms of fatigue, and I noticed him tilt his head to the left slightly. Acknowledgement of an unspoken challenge? A sign of respect? I did not know. However, I let out a nod, and after another moment, both of us moved in sync towards each other.

I ducked under his first slash and he twisted out of the way of mine. I had thumbed the activation switch, electrifying the blade once more, and I was satisfied when I saw it had disrupted his shield. I was, shall we say, less-than-satisfied at how his blade did the same to mine (at least, I assumed I had a similar shield). Okay, don't get hit. Seems simple enough. I tried to spin around and elbow him in the chest—success! And by success I mean dear god that hurt. Note to self, he's armored. Should have been obvious. I hear a snort of amusement from him as he promptly slams one of his arms down on my head, flipping his blade directly underneath it.

 _FFFFFFFF-_ I grabbed onto the arm as I fell, pulling him off-balance as I kicked at his feet. This time it went through his shield, and he collapsed exactly as I had intended—right next to me. I let out a shout of pain as it nicked—and went clean through—my helmet, slashing me across the eye. Thankfully, adrenalin and sheer willpower helped me deal with and ignore the pain. He immediately tried to scramble to his feet, but I was quicker—and still standing. Immediately, I stabbed downwards, striking him right in the upper back. The Captain seized up as the blade slid in, spasming from the electricity arcing through him, before finally collapsing and going still as I pulled the (now disgusting) blade out. Thumbing it off, I, seemingly on reflex, placed it on my back, where it stayed there (I later realized it was a magnetic lock).

"Are you okay?" My Ghost spoke up.

"Yeah." I just noticed how heavily I was breathing. "Let's...let's get out of here." My Ghost bobbed in the air slightly, a motion I took as a nod, before dematerializing. The lights came on, and I spotted the tram in question. Hopping on, I spoke. "Good work on getting this place running..."

"Thanks. It's all programmed to take us to the City. Nice work on the Captain."

"That..." I start saying as I fall back onto a chair, "...was difficult. Is every day with you going to be like this?"

"Probably."

"Sign me up."

* * *

 **AN:** I've only got three more chapters after this one planned out. I had an earlier version of this story, but I opted to rewrite it, and improve it. For example, the fight with the Fallen Captain was a whole paragraph. Singular.

I'd like to actually present enemies as actual threats, not just more cannon fodder for a skilled Guardian. Most shielded enemies will actually prove to be dangerous, to say nothing of Majors or Ultras. After all, to use the Hive as an example, Knights are said to have centuries of experience.


End file.
